18 BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS 



flower pure and simple. Now, most exhibitors are H.P. ad- 

 herents, because they want large and richly coloured flowers for 

 their show stands. So long as they get a limited number of fine 

 flowers in July, which is the great Rose show month of the year, 

 they are content. The second reason is that there is a widespread 

 impression that the Teas are tender plants, and consequently, that 

 heavy losses may be expected among them in very severe winters. 

 Although the belief is not without foundation it is carried a great 

 deal too far. To say that most of the Tea Roses are not absolutely 

 hardy is not to say that they are exceedingly tender. It is the 

 inability of people to recognise that there is such a thing as a 

 medium which causes so much mischief, and it is deplorable that 

 large numbers of Rose-lovers deny themselves the pleasure of 

 growing a collection of these flowers because they fear what they 

 regard as the inevitable expense of extensive renewals every 

 season. Even in cold districts it is quite easy to preserve the 

 plants. One simple plan of effecting this is to draw soil up each 

 one to the height of eight or ten inches about the end of November, 

 and then spread a coating of long litter all over the bed between 

 and round the mounds. This practice is not only good as a 

 preservative, but also culturally. It loosens and enriches the sur- 

 face soil thoroughly. At the end of the winter the mounds are re- 

 duced, and the soil is spread over the remnants of the litter. When 

 the plants are treated in this way it is rarely that extensive injury 

 is done. The upper, unprotected parts of the plant may be killed, 

 but they can be cut away, in fact they would perhaps be removed 

 in any case, in the ordinary course of pruning. The lower wood 

 is safe, and being softened by the earth the buds break strongly. 

 If any Teas be grown as standards (which will hardly be the 

 case unless the cultivator is growing for show) some bracken may 

 be placed among the branches, and tied round to prevent its being 

 blown out. 



The Tea Roses are propagated by budding them on to Brier 



